Chapter Thirty-Three: The Gap Between Acquired and Innate

He stood there as if struck dumb, the wild, frenzied aura around him vanishing in an instant. He was utterly stunned—was this man truly only at the acquired stage? Song Hai, too, was frozen, his massive monk's staff gripped tightly in his hands as he stared blankly at the dazed opponent. Was this man really so weak? Was he truly at the innate stage?

The only one who wasn't taken aback was Zhou Yi, who sat on his stool, watching the scene unfold, deep in thought.

"Power unleashed but not withdrawn, his every move depending on a single staff; as the staff goes, so goes the man—lose the staff, and he's lost." Staring at the stunned opponent, Zhou Yi pondered. The innate stage shouldn't be this feeble; perhaps he had just stepped into this realm, a mere novice.

That was Zhou Yi's interpretation—otherwise, he could find no reasonable explanation for such weakness in one supposedly at the innate level.

"Still, this innate intent is truly formidable," Zhou Yi mused, recalling how that oppressive innate presence had pressed down on him earlier. Though he'd dispersed it with his own internal energy, that didn't make it any less impressive.

Judging by the sensation, this innate intent alone could suppress sixty years' worth of internal strength—an entire cycle of life. And it seemed not to be limited by quantity, only by range.

In other words, for anyone in the acquired stage whose internal strength had not reached a full cycle, facing that innate intent would render them no stronger than an ordinary, untrained person. Meanwhile, the wielder would remain unaffected and even gain a boost from that very intent. How could any ordinary practitioner in the acquired stage hope to compete?

During the recent bout, Zhou Yi had observed his opponent closely—when his internal energy surged, Zhou Yi estimated he possessed about thirty years' worth of cultivation.

So, for anyone at the acquired stage to fight him on equal footing, they'd need not only to withstand the suppression of sixty years' worth of energy but also have at least thirty years of their own—ninety years in total, just for a chance.

Calculating thus, Zhou Yi immediately understood why people called the gulf between acquired and innate as vast as the heavens themselves. A single burst of innate intent could suppress sixty years of internal strength—how could anyone hope to fight like that?

The difficulty of cultivating internal strength was evident; it had taken this man, with all the support of a major sect, only thirty years' worth after all this time. Without those advantages, even ten or twenty years would be a challenge.

Internal strength isn't simply a matter of how many years you've been training. In truth, it's the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, transformed within the body through internal arts. The amount depends on the ambient spiritual energy, the efficiency of one's techniques, and personal talent.

Undoubtedly, while his talent could not match Song Hai's, it was by no means poor—otherwise, he wouldn't have become a core disciple.

Judging by his current appearance, this man seemed about twenty years old. As a core disciple of a great sect, he would have access to hidden realms and peerless techniques. Yet even so, it had taken him until twenty to cultivate only thirty years' worth of internal energy.

This alone revealed just how arduous the path of cultivation was.

It also highlighted the immense chasm between the acquired and innate stages. One must realize: a single innate intent could suppress sixty years of internal energy—a sum many people might never achieve in a lifetime.

Even for someone as talented as this opponent, reaching sixty years of internal strength would likely take him until his thirties.

Given all this, it was no wonder the acquired stage could never hope to defeat the innate. Indeed, a single innate practitioner could easily crush countless acquired ones.

With innate intent unleashed, all others would be reduced to helpless mortals, while the practitioner himself would only be strengthened. Was it not a one-sided battle?

"Hmm!" At this thought, Zhou Yi's eyes suddenly gleamed and a surge of excitement welled up within him. "So, in truth, the real gap between acquired and innate is just sixty years of internal power—seventy at most. By that logic, my dream of surpassing the innate stage in battle isn't so far-fetched after all!"

"In fact, it's even more attainable than I imagined. Sixty years of internal strength? I have a hundred and eighty—three times that! I could completely overwhelm any innate practitioner!" His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he looked upon his dazed opponent with a touch of gratitude.

What a remarkable person—if not for him, Zhou Yi would never have reached such a conclusion so quickly, nor gained such confidence in facing not just any group of innate practitioners, but the best from every great sect.

If those to come were all as strong as this man, he had nothing to fear.

Even if some were stronger, it would make little difference.

After all, by his calculations, this man's thirty years of internal strength, plus the suppression and boost from innate intent, amounted to seventy years—one hundred in total.

Even if others were stronger, forty years, or at most fifty, plus seventy, would only reach a hundred and twenty.

Compared to Zhou Yi's own hundred and eighty, or Song Hai's hundred and fifty, these were mere trifles!

Moreover, and more importantly, with such vast reserves of internal energy, the suppression of innate intent seemed to have no effect whatsoever. In other words, the sixty-year suppression meant nothing to either of them.

Their strength would remain undiminished. When fighting this man, Song Hai still had a hundred and fifty years of internal energy, while his opponent had only thirty—forty with the innate intent's boost.

This, then, was precisely why the man seemed so weak against Song Hai.

With a disparity of a hundred and ten years' worth of internal energy, how could one not be overpowered?

"You... how did you cultivate such internal strength?" After a moment, the dazed man finally recovered, recalling the overwhelming force transmitted through the monk's staff, leaving him utterly powerless—that could only be the result of an absolute difference in strength.

"Why are you so weak?" Song Hai, still not comprehending, stood there with his staff, staring in astonishment. The difference between expectation and reality was so vast that he barely even heard the question. Frowning, he asked, "Are you really at the innate stage?"

Despite all his years of cultivation and supposed composure, the man nearly spat blood at these words.

How was this his weakness? Clearly, it was Song Hai who was monstrously strong!

Such immense internal power, vast as the sea, with no end in sight—against that, what use were technique or innate intent? Sheer force overwhelmed all, rendering logic and skill irrelevant.

With such overwhelming strength, there was no difference at all between acquired and innate—they were both equally powerless.

Gazing at Song Hai, the man wanted desperately to tell him, "It's not that I'm too weak—it's that you're too monstrous." Yet looking into Song Hai's eyes, he was shocked to discover that the question was genuine, devoid of any malice or mockery. Song Hai truly didn't understand why he seemed so weak.

He truly didn't realize just how powerful he had become. Though still technically at the acquired stage, even among innate practitioners, save for a select few, all others would be utterly outclassed before him.

For him, whether acquired or innate, there was really no difference anymore.